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Physicists Uncover TV Show Biases

Tsalg writes "Interesting to see what scientists can uncover from watching one of the silliest TV shows in Europe, where singers represent countries in a contest, and then countries vote for.. for what exactly? Well it was reported in a Nature article where the show was used as a barometer of European nations' feelings about their neighbours, that Britain is in harmony with Europe, Nordic countries fancy each others' stars, and France is out on a limb."

18 of 435 comments (clear)

  1. Britain in harmony? by Aldric · · Score: 2, Funny

    Did they even bother to look at the result of the voting?

  2. Feh... by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 5, Funny
    Ever since France has been at the forefront of social development with it's Revolution, it's always been sait that "it's out on a limb" by other less-advanced countries.

    But eventually, all other countries adopt the principles put forth by France.

    1. Re:Feh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Ignoring how that would have ended if the French hadn't helped you..

      We would have won a lot sooner.

  3. Re:IIWAP by justforaday · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think it's a typo. It should probably be "psychics"

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  4. As usual, Europeans do odd things better than US by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Funny

    This looks way more interesting than "American Idle," which isn't nearly as good as the original, "Eric Idle."

    David Letterman, though, does acknowledge that his very popular "Will It Float" segment is based on the original British "Is It Buoyant."

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  5. To confirm these findings, physicists plan... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...on grinding up the contestants and firing them in a particle accelerator. I might suggest we do this with American Idol contestants.

  6. In related news... by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 5, Funny

    TV executives discover elusive Higgs boson!

  7. Another great Wogan comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The last time I saw a pair of legs like that, they were standing in a nest."

  8. IYWAP... by clickety6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    (If you were a physicist) you'd probably also have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than stay home alone watching the Eurovision song contest ;-)

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  9. Re:As usual, Europeans do odd things better than U by scovetta · · Score: 4, Funny

    David Letterman, though, does acknowledge that his very popular "Will It Float" segment is based on the original British "Is It Buoyant."

    Only because the majority of American's don't know what the word "buoyant" means.

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  10. Re:Lalah by gowen · · Score: 2, Funny

    Incidentally, if Britain is "in harmony with Europe", how come we only got points from Ireland and Malta, eh? And we had to give Malta a medal to get those...

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  11. I'll give the article by earthloop · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nil pwa

    Talk about stating the obvious!

  12. In unrelated news... by MisterTeabag · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... still no cure for cancer.

  13. Re:Those holier-than-thou French by viscount · · Score: 3, Funny

    The UK etc are the equivalent of grumpy old men whining about thruppeny bits.

    As a Londoner, I have to say that because of the fantastically low-cut tops that were being worn by some of the female performers, I was most certainly not complaining about thrupenny bits during the show...

  14. Re:Physicists? by tuxette · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you saw the amount of skin being revealed during Eurovision 2005, you'd probably do a "study" on it too...

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  15. Re:Lalah by David+Horn · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ah - Terry Wogan. The man no longer welcome in Denmark after he called their hosts "Dr Death and the Tooth Fairy."

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  16. out on a limb by PainBot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can anyone explain to a French guy what this expression means ?
    Oh and why does it alywas have to a huge argument whenever France is mentionned ?
    Last, why are PHYSICISTS qualified to perform such an analysis ? "Nuclear physicist says French painters like eating pork". Huh ?

  17. For example by hey! · · Score: 3, Funny

    When I was a student oh so many years ago, two physics student friends came up with what they believed was an object (i.e. quantifiable) measure of female beauty. I'll try to remember this -- physics was never my strong suit.

    The first student suggested moment of inertia about the z axis. The second amended this by suggesting it be divided by the natural period of oscillation. In other words, the measure represents a compromise between curviness and jiggliness.

    Now, I need hardly add that for these two young men, this was a purely theoretical exercise. Neither at the time had the least discernable empirical experience with the female sex, because dates for them were about as elusive as the Higgs boson. It wasn't until a few years brought a bit more maturity that they actually dated and eventually got married, an outcome I suppose that may justify some optimism for the prospects of many Slashdotters.

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